![]() ![]() The oyster bed below them is littered with cracked, opened shells, the pearls of which once made the King of Spain wealthy.Once in the canoe, Kino paddles them out amongst the other pearlers already in the water.Juana prays silently that Kino will find a pearl in the water big enough to pay a doctor.Juana puts a poultice of seaweed over the wound, which is "probably better than the doctor could have done." Meanwhile, Coyotito is getting worse the swelling from the sting has moved up from his shoulder and toward his face.Kino and Juana make their way with Coyotito down to Kino’s canoe, which is "the one thing of value he owned in the world." It’s old and once belonged to Kino’s grandfather.(Just picture the "copper haze" over the water and the blinding reflection of the sun-this, we are told, is why the townspeople feel there is no certainty in seeing.) It’s also very dreamlike, the narration tells us explicitly.Once again we see the area isn’t too densely populated, since wild pigs and dogs roam the beach looking for food.The town is located on the beach of an estuary canoes can be seen coming in from Nayarit, which means we’re in Mexico and probably near the tip of the Baja Peninsula.Now that we’ve met the people and started the storyline, Steinbeck figures he’ll tell us where all this is taking place. ![]() Realizing that the pearl is cursed and has destroyed his family (as Juana forewarned), Kino and Juana return to La Paz and throw the cursed pearl into the sea. ![]() Unfortunately, Coyotito was killed by the first gunshot, and Kino's journey with the pearl ends in tragedy. As the shot is fired, Kino springs on the trackers and kills them all. The trackers, thinking it's a coyote, shoot at the dark cave where Juana and Coyotito are hiding. Kino sneaks down in the night to kill the trackers, but before he can attack them, Coyotito cries out. The trackers camp just below the ridge where they are hiding. To escape, Kino and Juana take the baby and run to the mountains where they hide in a cave at nightfall. He knows that they will steal the pearl and kill his family if they catch them. While they are resting during the day, Kino discovers that there are trackers following them. Kino, Juana, and Coyotito hide with Kino's brother for a day before embarking on their journey to a new city under the cover of darkness. While she's inside the hut getting the baby, someone lights it on fire. Juana goes to gather their things and escape and finds the floor of their hut completely dug up. On his way back to their hut, Kino is attacked and he kills the man in self-defense. That night, Juana takes the pearl and tries to throw it into the sea, but Kino stops her and beats her. Juana warns Kino that the pearl is evil and will destroy his family, but he refuses to throw it away because it is his one chance to provide a different life for his family. Kino is now on his own, although he doesn't know it yet. His brother, Tom Juan, feels Kino's plan is foolish because it defies his entire way of life and puts his family in danger. But when the buyers try to cheat Kino, he refuses to sell the pearl and plans to travel to another city to sell at a fair price. This way they can purchase the pearl for a low price. The pearl buyers have already planned to convince Kino that the great pearl he has found is worth very little because it is too large. The next day, Kino tries to sell the pearl in town. That night, an intruder comes into Kino's hut and roots around near the spot where Kino had first buried the pearl. Kino moves the pearl when the doctor leaves. The doctor then manipulates Kino into unwittingly revealing where he has hidden the great pearl. He convinces Kino that the child is still ill and will die without the care of a doctor. The doctor comes to treat Coyotito once he learns of Kino's pearl, and although the baby is healed by Juana's remedy, the doctor takes advantage of Kino's ignorance. Kino believes that an education will free his son from the poverty and ignorance that have oppressed their people for more than four hundred years. While the townspeople plot against Kino, he dreams of marrying Juana in a church, buying a rifle, and sending Coyotito to school so that he can learn to read. The word travels quickly about the pearl and many in the town begin to plot ways to steal it. That day Kino goes diving, and finds a great pearl, the Pearl of the World, and knows he is suddenly a wealthy man. The wealthy town doctor will not treat the baby because Kino cannot pay the doctor's fee, so Kino and his wife, Juana, are left only to hope their child is saved. Kino, a young pearl diver in La Paz, enjoys his simple life until the day his son, Coyotito, is stung by a scorpion. ![]()
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